Rabbi Irving and Marly Koslowe Judaica Gallery

WJC is proud to have the Rabbi Irving and Marly Koslowe Judaica Gallery in our main lobby. This award-winning exhibition space is home to revolving exhibitions that mirror the Jewish world in microcosm.

Through fine art, folk art and photography, our thematic shows are culled from contemporary artists, historical content and our members’ collections. The Gallery, in conjunction with other committees, often brings in artists and historians for associated lectures.

The Koslowe Gallery is geared up for a rich and exciting 2016-17 year!

WINTER EXHIBITION: FEBRUARY 2017

THE WORLD IN OUR HANDS: BARR FOUNDATION TORAH POINTER COLLECTION & “YOU RENEW THE FACE OF THE EARTH: ILLUMINATIONS OF PSALM 104” by BARBARA WOLFF

“The World in Our Hands,” displays highlights from the largest and most diverse Torah pointer collection in the U.S. The Virginia-based collector Clay Barr’s vast collection of yads, or Torah pointers, includes the rarest and most creative selections, antiquities and commissioned work from contemporary artists with pointers made of stone, wood, paper, ceramic, metal, Lucite, glass, silver, ivory, brass, gems, leather and more. They are small and large, portable and mounted, traditional and wildly original. Such artists as Tobi Kahn, Wendell Castle, Darlys Ewolt and Albert Paley are represented, originating from Hungary, Israel, Norway, Vermont, Germany, North Africa and New Jersey, for starters.

Barbara Wolff’s illuminations of Psalm 104 last showed at the Morgan Library in New York in 2015. The artist’s fine art prints of the illuminated pages elevate the Psalm and celebrate a song of creation. Wolff’s works complement the pointing hands on Barr’s yads, which surround her framed works. For more information, contact Amy Levine-Kennedy, Curator [email protected]

FALL EXHIBITION: SEPTEMBER 2016

Rhythm and Ruach & Shabbat in the Gallery: A first time collaboration!

(Service, Dinner and Gallery Opening)

“Family Gatherings: the Photographs of Richard Margolis”

The Koslowe Gallery is pleased to usher in a new year featuring programming to engage our greater community, both internally and externally to WJC. Through our involvement with the Council of American Jewish Museums, we bring you an exhibition of some of the simplest but most critical concepts in religious tradition and practice, the holiday table. With “Family Gatherings: The Photographs of Richard Margolis,” the Rochester-based photographer features tables integral to the heritage, and future, of ritual and memory in Judaism, as well as in Christianity, Islam and more. Margolis has been at work photographing seder tables, Shabbats and holiday feasts, including Kwanzaa, Christmas and Ramadan.

The subjects of these photos are the expectant rooms themselves, the table as a centerpiece, for they offer us questions. Who will sit at each table? And why? Who will be missing? What foods will they be eating? In these photos, the rooms are still to be graced with food and people and sound. Here they are in a state of anticipation for a new set of conversation and memories.

“One of the things that surprised me was that except for details many of the different cultures set very similar tables. They all celebrate family, pray for peace, think about those who could not attend - and nearly all of them invited me to join them. It was easy to feel that there is far more that unites than separates us,” says Margolis. Making photographs for more than 30 years, Margolis has taught photography at several colleges and has been featured in more than 100 shows. His prints are in museums and private collections.

For an exhibition based on WJC members’ snapshots, please mail in photos of your family Shabbat and holiday tables to Rosie Aronin, or drop them in the marked box in the office by September 11th. We will display them as part of the show.

Join us for the first collaboration of the Koslowe Gallery and Rhythm and Ruach for an exciting opening reception and gallery talk combined with a lively, instrumental Kabbalat Shabbat with acapella Ma’ariv and an optional Shabbat meal!